The migrating group trudged through the mud for an entire day before reaching their destination.
It was an open plateau with gentle slopes on three sides and hills at its back. Sparse Devil Cypresses dotted the ground below the slopes.
All in all, it was a suitable place to settle-yet the expected cheers never came.
The hope that had just risen on the villagers' faces turned into faint unease once they saw what lay before them.
There were no houses, no walls. Everything would have to be built from scratch.
All the plateau held was a cluster of tents, a few half-dug trenches, a small pile of felled logs, and supplies covered with tarpaulins.
"Heavens... this is our new home?" An old man in the crowd gazed at the barren camp, disappointment coloring his voice.
"Exactly. Where are we supposed to sleep tonight?"
"Sleeping on the ground is fine, but we'll get sick if we're still doing that when the rainy season comes!"
Similar murmurs spread through the crowd.
"Quiet!"
Veylin paid no heed to their sinking spirits. "Captain Barrett, you know what to do."
"Yes, my lord." Veylin had already given him instructions when the settlers arrived. Now Barrett merely repeated the process, far more practiced than before.
He clapped to draw the villagers' attention and shouted, "Able-bodied men, collect tools over there and clear the brush west of the camp! Women and elders, put up temporary tents and move the supplies beneath the rock face! A few of the older women, watch the children. Don't let them wander off!"
Humans were peculiar creatures.
When they felt lost, a clear instruction could soothe them more effectively than any reassuring words.
The restless crowd seemed to have found an anchor. Though their faces still carried plenty of worry, their bodies had already begun moving instinctively. They silently collected tools and headed to their assigned places to work.
Labor drove their doubts away for the moment.
Veylin did not join in the routine construction work. He skirted the crowd and went straight to a corner of the camp, where bundles of specially gathered Swamp Vines lay piled.
He ignored the looks cast his way-awed, puzzled, worried.
Time was limited. Veylin needed to turn the plan in his head into reality as quickly as possible.
Results were the only weapon that could shatter doubt.
Veylin crouched and began carefully sorting through dozens of bundles of vines. Lines of data streamed across his vision.
[Swamp Vine][Bloodline: Flexible Steel Toughness (Gold Tier) 5%, mixed bloodlines 95%] [Swamp Vine][Bloodline: Flexible Steel Toughness (Gold Tier) 3%, mixed bloodlines 97%]
In the end, he selected the two specimens with the highest bloodline proportions from among hundreds of vines. Both had an astonishing 7% Flexible Steel Toughness bloodline.
Once he was done, he rose and headed toward the rock face.
Leo, the mage apprentice, was making preparations there as instructed.
At the foot of the hill beside the rock face, the entrance to a freshly dug cellar came into view. The cellar was small, its walls supported by simple wooden planks.
Veylin descended the steps. Leo was drenched in sweat as he worked through the final adjustments.
A circular magic array roughly two meters in diameter had been inscribed in the center of the cellar. Its simple, archaic symbols gave off a faint white glow in the gloom.
It was the most basic kind of Ether Gathering Array, with a single purpose: to concentrate the aether energy drifting through the surroundings at its center.
A huge clay flowerpot stood in the middle of the magic array, already filled with the special nutrient soil Veylin had requested.
The soil was thick and sticky, its black surface reflecting an iridescent sheen in the faint light.
"My lord, everything is ready." Leo wiped away his sweat. Though tired, he was even more excited.
"I never imagined your Bloodline Gift could evolve plants, my lord!"
Veylin nodded without continuing the conversation, lest he expose himself by saying something that contradicted common knowledge.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, an emerald gleam of life flashed through them.
"Springlaw Messenger!"
A vast torrent of life surged from the dazzling green light and poured into the vines through Veylin's hands!
Veylin felt nothing like he had during his previous practice. If accelerating the growth of ordinary plants was like turning on a tap, this was like punching a hole through a bucket!
He could clearly feel the Flexible Steel Toughness bloodline awakening inside the vines, ravenously devouring the components of the nutrient soil.
The dormant Flexible Steel Toughness began to unfurl, stir, and multiply.
The data on the system panel flickered wildly, almost blurring together.
[Evolution progress: 1%] [3%] [5%]
The nutrient soil, which the vines would normally have needed to absorb naturally, was sinking at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Yet this highly efficient catalysis lasted less than five minutes.
"Ugh!"
A sharp wave of dizziness stabbed through Veylin's head. His vision went black, and the green light around his hands dissipated.
He stumbled, only steadying himself by bracing against the nearby wall.
In the month or so since arriving in this world, he had only used his talent in small doses, following the guidance in his forebear's handwritten notes. He had never imagined that catalyzing a creature with a Gold Tier bloodline would place such an enormous burden on him.
Seeing Veylin falter, Leo immediately dropped his notes and rushed over to support him as he swayed.
"My lord! Your face..."
Alarm filled Leo's voice. Veylin's lips were bloodless, and fine beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.
"I'm fine."
"You are anything but fine, my lord. You've already begun overdrawing your mental power!" Leo's tone turned unusually firm. "This is one of the most serious warnings in the apprentice handbook. Forcing yourself to overdraw your mental power can damage your internal organs and limit your future bloodline growth!"
He fumbled at his waist and pulled out a crystal vial.
It was half full of sky-blue liquid that looked like a piece of solidified clear sky beneath the magic array's faint glow.
"My lord, this is a Clarity Potion, a recovery aid commonly used by mages. It can quickly calm your mind and restore your mental power, with effects lasting half a day. But... the aftereffect is a severe headache lasting several hours. Would you like to use it?"
Without hesitation, Veylin took it and drained it in one gulp.
The liquid slid down his throat with a minty coolness, and the stabbing sensation tormenting him quickly eased.
He looked at the two vines. Their evolution progress had stopped firmly at [9%].
An hour of deep meditation, combined with this potion's effects, should restore enough of my strength for another ten minutes of catalysis.
Veylin quickly ran the calculations in his head.
An evolution that would originally have taken ten days... now it looks like repeated rounds of catalysis with Springlaw Messenger can finish it in a single night.
He opened his eyes and looked at Leo, whose face was full of concern.
"Leo, guard the array and monitor the Ether's stability. No sleep or rest tonight."
"Yes, my lord!"